The End of East: A Novel [Hardcover]

Jen Sookfong Lee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lee's poignant debut saga covers three generations of a Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver. Their story begins when Chan Seid Quan emigrates to Vancouver in 1913 at 17, but the novel opens 10 years after his death at the age of 94, when his granddaughter, Samantha, leaves graduate school and a lover in Montreal to return to Vancouver to take care of her mother. Samantha—frozen with indecision about her future and resentful that she's burdened with responsibility she didn't choose—passes her days contemplating her family's past. Polished, nonchronological set pieces offer glimpses of hardship, alienation and despair in Vancouver's Chinatown. Seid Quan returns to China at intervals separated by years, just often enough to marry, father three children and return to Canada after each visit a lonelier man. His youngest child, a son named Pon Man, relocates to Vancouver in 1951 at 15, and eventually marries and has five daughters, the youngest of whom is Samantha. Seid Quan's wife, Shew Lin, survives war and occupation while caring for her three children, and eventually arrives in Vancouver. She's tough, particularly on Pon Man's wife, Siu Sang, who suffers postpartum depression. The present ceaselessly mirrors the past in this enlightening look at Vancouver's slice of the Chinese diaspora. (May)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Lee traces three generations of a Chinese-Canadian immigrant family in Vancouver, BC. The story is epic in scope, yet intimate in presentation. The first chapter provides a slow start, introducing the family through the eyes of the youngest granddaughter, Sammy, as she reluctantly returns home from Montreal to care for her aging mother. Sammy's memories of her grandfather, Seid Quan, abruptly usher in a retreat to the first decade of the 20th century, when he arrived on a boat from his small village in China. The narrative alternates between past and present, with fleeting appearances of the granddaughter that interrupt the more substantial saga of Seid Quan, then later his son Pon Man, and their march toward the future. Seid Quan toils in a barbershop to earn money to bring his family to Canada, and his Herculean efforts to protect and provide for them distance him emotionally. The story is steeped in descriptions of the streets and alleyways of Vancouver's Chinatown, a community and identity that bind the family together even as they struggle to break free. The intense devotion to family is both a sanctuary and a burden, and the constraints of circumstance drive Sammy's mother to the brink of insanity. The quiet struggles of Sammy's parents and grandparents are engrossing, while the fleeting passages focused on the granddaughter are introspective. As the novel concludes, there is a brief gap where the past and present can meet, echoing the space left open for the future, where Sammy may yet carve out an identity to call her own.—Heidi Dolamore, San Mateo County Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312379854
• ISBN-13: 978-0312379858
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,473,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet- but slightly more sweet than bitter., May 12, 2008

By	Megret (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The End of East: A Novel (Hardcover)

I was unsure of this novel at first, but I enjoyed it more and more as I continued to read. By the end, I found that I was satisfied, and that I had enjoyed the time I spent reading.

The relationships between the characters are bittersweet, shaded with self-sacrifice, family responsibility, cultural divides, misunderstandings, prejudice and ultimately, love. As is life.

It was a quick read- it would be a good book to take along on a trip.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sentimental, Thoughtful, & Very Emotional, June 9, 2008

By	Anne Jensen "Book Lover" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The End of East: A Novel (Hardcover)

The 256 pages of this novel provide such depths and insight into each character, the lives and toils of a family, and the conflicts that we all face, more or less, at some point within our lives. It's rare for a novel to provoke such contemplation and emotions within the reader, but The End of East manages to do so effortlessly and throughout its entirety. Get the tissues ready, and be prepared to look at your own existence -- I know I did.